


Fighting For The Gold

by SamanthaB



Category: Glee
Genre: AU, M/M, warblers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 18:51:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6389071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamanthaB/pseuds/SamanthaB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These are two different one shots in which Nick and Jeff are athletes in the Olympic games and were previously published on FF.net but I decided to post here as well :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Teammate

Nick took a deep breath as he climbed the small ladder, he couldn’t believe he and his teammate had made it to the Olympic Games. All that hard work was already paying off, being there was everything Nick had imagined and more, the people were awesome, the environment inspired the competition and Nick had never felt better.

As they got to the board Nick looked down at the pool with the clear cyan blue water and the words ‘London 2012’ on the bottom along with the five rings that symbolised the five continents of the world that participated in the Olympic Games.

Nick turned around his back to the pool and quickly adjusted his speedos before giving the sign for Jeff. “Ready?” Jeff gave him a small nod. “3... 2... 1... Go!” They both jumped on the boards at the same time a couple of times before jumping back doing a double flip before diving into the pool in a completely vertical position.

Nick let himself stay under water for a couple of seconds before moving his arms to swim to the surface.

He flipped the hair out of his sight as he swam to the edge, he pushed himself up and hugged Jeff, like they always did when they succeeded their dive.

Nick tried to not think about who he was actually hugging, he couldn’t. Jeff was only his teammate he reminded himself.

Sure, he was funny, nice, a great diver, good looking, and those speedos made Nick crazy every single time, but Jeff was just that, the guy Nick was over heels for but couldn’t have.

Jeff patted Nick’s back before they both turned to the screens to re-watch their dive. They had been, like always, perfectly synchronised.

“We were perfect! High-five!” Jeff said raising his hand.

Nick smiled and high-fived him.

They walked to the small pool to rest a little, that day they would still have a few dives, and if everything worked alright they would have many more after that day.

Nick and Jeff chatted casually before they had to jump again.

The day went on perfectly, Nick and Jeff qualified for the next phase, which was awesome, they had worked hard for that, they deserved to win. But didn’t all of the athletes?

As Nick was already in the Olympic village he walked slowly to his room, bag hooked on his shoulder. The hallway to his room was silent, not even a door open or someone talking at the door with someone else.

Nick got inside the room he was sharing with Jeff, it wasn’t a surprise when he found it empty, Jeff always took longer to arrive the room.

He threw his bag to the floor and himself onto the bed. He was tired, not enough to go sleep yet though.

Nick kept himself on the bed not moving and ended up drifting to a light sleep, he was woken up by the door opening and Jeff getting inside, Nick sat up slowly running a hand through his hair and rubbing his eyes. “You were awesome today,” Jeff smiled widely throwing his bag onto his bed.

“You were as awesome as me!” Nick smiled back. “If not we wouldn’t have been synchronised,” Nick mocked.

“So, I wanted to ask you something.” Jeff said casually sitting on Nick’s bed.

“Shoot,” Nick said leaning against the headboard.

“Would you come with me somewhere?” Jeff asked biting back his smile.

“To where?” Nick raised an eyebrow.

Jeff shrugged with a grin, Nick rolled his eyes, he was used to Jeff being like this sometimes so he just had to keep himself cool and not jump into conclusions and he would end up having a good time.

“Okay, fine.” Nick grinned.

“Great! Get up and let’s go!” Jeff chirped jumped off the bed.

“Now? We had a full day today! Can’t it be tomorrow?” Nick whined.

“No. Besides tomorrow we have free morning, so you can sleep until later, come on Nick!” Jeff walked to Nick and pushed him off the bed by his hand.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming!” Nick sighed getting up. “Can I at least know where we’re going?” He asked tiredly following Jeff to the still silent hallway.

“Sure! When we’re there!” Jeff grinned.

“Ah-ah. You are so funny.” Nick laughed dryly and rolled his eyes, pouting a little.

“It’s nothing too especial.” Jeff shrugged leading Nick outside.

Next thing he knew Jeff was blindfolding Nick and taking him wherever. Nick whined and asked him to let him see, but Jeff just laughed and answered no.

Nick had no idea where he was, he couldn’t be that far from the village though, but he was completely lost. Jeff wasn’t, at least that.

“Okay you can take it off.” Jeff said and his voice echoed, Nick raised his eyebrow and took the blindfold off.

It was darker than what he was used to, but even with those few lights, Nick would always recognise the Olympic pools, and he had to admit the place looked stunning at night. But then something hit him and he widened his eyes. “Jeff! Are you crazy? If we get caught in here we’ll be disqualified!” Nick said rushing to the door that led to the locker rooms to get out of there.

“No!” Jeff caught his arm. “First, we won’t get caught, second if we do, it’s okay, I promise.” Jeff said.

“How so?” Nick turned to Jeff.

“Just trust me.” Jeff smiled.

Nick sighed, it was impossible to say no when Jeff was looking at him with those big brown eyes and that smile Nick loved so much. “Alright. What are we doing here anyway?” Nick asked.

“Well, I heard you saying the other day you just wanted some time to dive without having to think in scores...” Jeff grinned and shrugged.

“Oh,” Nick couldn’t help the smile from spreading across his face, Jeff had actually listen to him and tried to help! “I don’t even have my speedos.” Nick shook his head.

“Me neither.” Jeff said starting to take off his shoes and then his shirt.

Nick found himself watching Jeff strip and slapped himself mentally. _Stop being a creep!_ He demanded himself and started taking his own clothes off with a small blush creeping through his neck to his cheeks.

They did a quick warm up and showered quickly, so they wouldn’t hurt themselves or have a temperature shock.

“You first,” Jeff pointed to the ladder and smiled.

Nick didn’t waste a second he started climbing the ladder, he would start with the smaller one.

As he was up there he looked down, he could do anything he wanted, flips, back flips, somersaults... Anything. He was trained to know how to do all that.

A grin grew on his face as he decided what to do, he stepped back and took a deep breath before stepping forward quickly again and jumping higher as possible before pulling his knees to his chest, a wide smile on his face as he hit the water and splashed it all around.

As Nick swam to the surface and shook his hair out of his eyes, he could hear Jeff laugh. “That was a ten!” He said extending a hand to help Nick out of the pool.

Nick chuckled and reached for his hand, letting him pull him out. “Thanks.”

“Now’s my turn!” Jeff grinned and climbed the ladder.

Jeff didn’t waste a second, he turned his back to the pool and jumped a couple of times on the board before giving a double back somersault and diving perfectly in the pool.

Nick clapped and the blond came to the surface and extended him his hand to help him out of the pool. “Show off!” Nick mocked as he pulled Jeff up.

“I’m gonna take that as a ‘great job!’” Jeff chuckled and winked.

“Great job!” Nick rolled his eyes.

“Hey! Wanna go for a race?” Jeff pointed with his head to the big Olympic pool with a grin on his face.

“Jeff, I’m a diver, not a swimmer.” Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Me too! Let’s see who’s the fastest!” Jeff said pulling Nick to the pool. “You know how to swim don’t you?” Jeff looked back at Nick who was glaring at him. “Yeah, sure, stupid question.”

Jeff led him to the middle of the pool and made Nick stop in front of one of the trails and went to the one beside him. They both climbed to their places to start. Nick knew he wasn’t a great swimmer, not like the others who were competing at least.

“Ready?” Jeff called out.

Nick prepared himself to jump to the pool.

“Go!”

Nick jumped forward, but as he was still on the air he felt a body colliding with his and instead of going forward he went to the side, making Nick yelp.

Nick struggled to swim to the surface but someone, named Jeff, was still hugged to him.

Jeff made them go to the surface, laughing.

“You think that was funny?” Nick gasped for air, trying to not think how close Jeff was to him. Their bodies were so close Nick could actually feel Jeff’s abs pressed against his.

“A lot!” Jeff continued to laugh, letting go of Nick.

Nick rolled his eyes and swam to the edge of the pool. “You’re an ass.” He mumbled.

Jeff swam to Nick and trapped him against the edge of the pool. “And why is that?” He grinned.

Nick could feel his cheeks warming up, Jeff was so close again.

“Because I nearly drowned now!” Nick whined.

“I wouldn’t let my teammate drown!” Jeff chuckled.

“Then why did you do that?” Nick asked making himself look at Jeff’s eyes and not letting himself look down at Jeff’s lips.

“Because... I felt like doing it.” He paused. “And because if you were swimming you would never see that,” Jeff said pointing at the screen, where usually they could see their scores but instead of the scores there was a sentence:

_Would you go on a date with me?_

Nick raised his eyebrow and looked back at a shinny eyed Jeff. “Is-Is that for real?” He asked.

Jeff nodded. “I-I’ve been wanting to ask you out forever, but whenever I tried the words wouldn’t come out... It was easier that way.” Jeff chuckled nervously.

“You did all this, just to ask me out?” Nick asked incredulously.

“Sounds kind of silly putting it that way...” Jeff made a face.

“No! It’s... I loved it.” Nick smiled softly.

“Is that a yes?” Jeff asked hopeful.

Nick nodded. “Yes.” He felt so happy, he had liked Jeff for long now and apparently Jeff liked him too, he had never thought Jeff would ever look at him twice.

Nick had never seen such a big smile on Jeff, and once his eyes had landed on Jeff’s lips he couldn’t take them off there.

Jeff seemed to have noticed because he started leaning forward slowly, gladly they were both supporting themselves on the edge of the pool, or they would be going up and down and that wouldn’t work alright.

Nick ended up closing the small gap between them at once and kissed Jeff deeply. Jeff kissed back quickly.

Jeff’s lips felt even better than what Nick had ever thought they would, they were soft and made butterflies explode in Nick’s stomach.

Jeff tilted his head slightly to kiss Nick deeper.

They continued to kiss for a while until Nick pulled a little away to breathe.

“We should go sleep, tomorrow we still have some dives to do.” Jeff breathed out.

Nick nodded but instead of swimming to the ladder to get out of the pool he leaned forward to kiss Jeff again, this time quicker.

“Let’s go,” Nick mumbled against Jeff’s lips, before leaning away and diving to swim towards the ladder.

Jeff followed Nick out of the pool.

They quickly dried themselves with the towels Jeff had left in the locker room and walked hand in hand back to their room.

That night Nick dreamed about Jeff, but this time it was okay, because he knew Jeff liked him back, so it was okay. He felt truly happy, he even slept through the whole night without waking up, like he was used to since they had arrived to London.

On the morning they stayed in bed for a little longer just chatting casually, then they walked together to the pools again, this time not holding hands, the rumours in the Olympic village ran faster than the 100 metres runners.

Before their first evaluation they had some time to practice, it wasn’t much since they had to divide the time with the other teams.

At the first jump, before giving the signal Nick tried to clear his mind so he could jump correctly, but Jeff wouldn’t get out of his mind and now that he knew Jeff liked him back.

He gave the signal but ended up jumping slightly later than Jeff and diving not vertically.

“What the hell was that?” Jeff asked as they were lifting themselves on the edge of the pool.

“Sorry,” Nick mumbled. “I was distracted.”

Jeff sighed. “Okay, but concentrate for the next time!” Jeff said. “We don’t have that many training dives ahead, and we can’t lose now!” He said, Jeff was a very competitive person and getting so far to just ruin everything because of a crush would definitely make him mad.

Nick nodded.

But the next dive wasn’t better, neither was the one after, and Nick could see the annoyance in Jeff’s eyes.

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what is going on with me!” Nick said, he just didn’t want Jeff mad at him.

“Just get your head in the game, we have one more dive before the one that will actually count!” Jeff said and by his voice Nick could see he was slightly mad.

“Okay.” He mumbled.

Nick tried to concentrate but he failed once again, the other teams were looking at them with mocking smirks and grins. Jeff groaned and pulled Nick to the locker rooms that were empty.

“What the hell is going on with you?” Jeff demanded.

“Sorry!”

“Look, Nick, I didn’t come so far to lose because you can’t concentrate! All those days training from early morning to late at night, those restless weekends, all of that has to pay off now! So you better get your head in the dives!” Jeff said angrily and got out of the locker room.

Nick waited until Jeff was out of sight to kick one of the small benches angrily. Bad move. “Shit!” Nick yelped and sat grabbing his own foot.

He stood there for a while until the pain eased and then he came back to the pool. It was already time for him and Jeff to jump for the competition. Nick had delayed too much in the locker room and he had lost their last training dive.

Nick could see in Jeff’s features he was still mad, and that hurt Nick. One day he was asking him out and kissing him passionately the day after he was mad at him and screaming at him.

Sure, Nick was kind of asking for it, they were in the Olympics, no space for silly mistakes.

Nick climbed the ladder taking deep breaths. He had to focus in something and stop daydreaming about Jeff.

He decided to think about his foot, it was not hurting much, but he could feel something there. He kept his attention to his foot as he walked on the board and turned his back to the pool.

“Ready?”

Jeff nodded.

“3... 2... 1... Go!”

The jump was one of the best of the pair, completely synchronised, and the dive perfect.

“Great job!” Jeff said happily as they lifted themselves on the edge of the pool.

“Yeah, sure.” Nick said coldly. Of course, now that he hadn’t ruined his chances to become an Olympic champion Jeff was all happy with him again.

This slight rage was what kept Nick doing perfectly that day. In fact he and Jeff made it to the finals that would take place the next day.

“You did very well today,” Jeff smiled at Nick and laid a hand on his shoulder as they walked back to their room.

Nick flinched away. “You did too.” He said slightly coldly and stepped inside their room.

“Are you mad at me?” Jeff asked closing the door behind him with an eyebrow raised.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to be yelled at. And before you think otherwise, no your words weren’t what made me concentrate again.” Nick said coldly with his back turned to Jeff, starting to strip off his clothes. He would call it an early night and sleep. He deserved some sleep.

“Nick... Please don’t be mad at me,” Jeff asked softly.

“I’m not _mad_ , I’m slightly hurt. You didn’t have to speak to me like that, you had never before, and if I was nervous you would have only made things worse. Goodnight, Jeffrey.” He said climbing to his bed.

Nick felt Jeff sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry,” He mumbled. “I just got carried away.” Jeff mumbled looking down at his hands, he hated to lose his temper, especially if he had hurt Nick like that, he liked him so much – loved even – and he didn’t want to see the dark haired man mad at him.

Nick sighed. “Fine, it’s okay, but let me sleep.” Nick said still a bit coldly. Maybe one of the reasons was because he was tired, so maybe if he slept he would feel better and happier on the next day.

And it was true. When Nick wok up the next day he felt fresher and not so down as the previous day.

“Morning,” Jeff mumbled from his bed as Nick sat up running a hand through his hair.

“G’morning.” Nick mumbled sleepily.

An awkward silence fell between the two men. After the way Nick had fallen asleep last night Jeff knew he was still hurt with Jeff’s outburst, Jeff shouldn’t have yelled at him no matter what Nick was doing, if someone should have called him to his attention should have been their coach. On the other hand, Nick wanted to apologise for being rude to Jeff, he was kind of right when he had yelled at him, Nick was behaving like school girl and couldn’t get himself concentrated as he thought about his crush, and that could have cost them the medals.

“I’m sorry-” They both burst out at the same time. And then they chuckled.

“It’s okay, I wasn’t concentrated, and I almost ruined our chances of winning.” Nick mumbled.

“No, you were right I shouldn’t have yelled at you, if you were nervous I would only making it worse. I’m sorry.” Jeff apologised again.

Nick slid his legs off the bed and walked to Jeff’s bed sitting on the edge of it. “Let’s just forget about it...” He said reaching for his hand.

Jeff nodded and smiled, sitting up. “Okay,” He agreed.

Nick blushed a little as he realised how close he actually was from Jeff, Jeff was smiling widely and looking a little down at Nick’s lips.

_Should I kiss him?_ Nick asked himself. _Why the hell not!_ He thought and closed the gap between them kissing him deeply.

Jeff quickly answered to the kiss, by kissing back and pulling Nick closer by the back of his neck.

Just like two days ago butterflies exploded in Nick’s stomach.

The kiss didn’t last long though, they were interrupted by their coach knocking at the door.

“C’mon boys! Get up! We have a long day ahead!” He called out.

Nick sighed as he broke apart from Jeff. “We’re coming!” Nick replied before getting up to quickly change clothes.

Jeff groaned, he wanted more time with Nick, alone. With no coach or crowds or even security guards who were making sure they weren’t having sex in the pool.

Ten minutes later they were already out of the room.

“Nick, today you won’t have dives for training, so what happened yesterday can’t happen again.” His coach said severely.

He usually wasn’t much around in competitions, he would stay out of their way, unless something was wrong and he had to interfere.

He was a small man, probably six inches shorter than Nick, chubby, very white, his hair had a weird shade of red, but overall he was a very nice person, and a great coach.

“I know... It won’t happen again.” Nick promised.

On the rest of the way Nick was too focused in his own thoughts, somewhere in the way, Jeff leaned a little against him and they walked shoulder brushing shoulder, but it was the maximum proximity they could get without making rumours rise. There should be enough rumours because of the pool’s scene already. Even if the security guards had promised to keep it a secret.

Jeff didn’t say anything to Nick as they prepared for their dives. He could see Nick was making his best to keep focused and it wasn’t Jeff the one who was going to ruin that.

Nick climbed that known ladder keeping himself calm. He continued to review in his head the jump he had to do, that would be the only way he would make it right.

He looked down at the pool nervously. Would he make it? Yes. That was what he had to think at least.

He turned around as always and took a deep breath. “Ready?”

And then it was kind of blurry, Nick found himself already swimming to the surface, Jeff congratulating him for the great jump. The rest of the competition was like that, Nick would turn his mind off a second before the jump and only turn it on again when he was already in the water. That was what made them win, and Jeff’s flawlessness at the jumps too, of course.

So now they were waiting for the final results, they only needed half a point more than the ones before them. Only that and the gold would be theirs.

Apparently some teams’ scores were being discussed for whatever reason so they had to wait, and the waiting seemed like it would never end.

Nick was getting more nervous by the second. They had been very good, yes, but what if they still couldn’t win? Years of hard work thrown to the garbage.

Actually… Nick, with those games, had won the best thing he could ever win. Jeff. And even if they didn’t win a medal, Nick would go home the happiest person ever.

That amazing thought made him calm down, whatever would happen it would be okay.

“Calm down, it’s going to be fine,” He said to Jeff who was biting his nails to the core.

“How can you be so sure?” Jeff mumbled nervously.

Nick smiled softly at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Stop biting your nails before you get hurt.” He said simply.

It was then when the final label with the final scores and the teams’ places.

Nick started reading from the bottom, so his hopes would raise by the time he would read two names in the place above the last one and it weren’t either Jeff’s or his.

Jeff’s hand gripped around Nick’s arm. “Nick, oh my God, we made it. Nick, we freaking made it!” Jeff said astonished.

“What?” Nick raised an eyebrow and looked up at the first three teams. His heart skipped a beat. “Holy crap-” He mumbled.

Before Nick could even tell he had Jeff hugging him tighter than ever before, lifting him a little from the floor. Nick held tight to Jeff. 

“I can’t believe this is happening!” Jeff said exploding with happiness and laughing a little.

 

“We won! We made it Jeff!” Nick said tears of happiness in his eyes.

Out of nowhere Jeff threw Nick into the pool and jumped right after. The rest of the USA team did the same, divers and swimmers who had came from the locker rooms just to celebrate with their colleagues.

In the middle of the confusion in the pool Jeff pulled Nick for a quick kiss. Luckily they weren’t caught by any camera.

After all the moment celebrations, the delivery of the medal and the USA’s anthem, Nick and Jeff returned to their room to rest for the night’s celebration of not only their medal but also the other medals won by the swimmers.

They were cuddled in Nick’s bed, waiting for some sleepiness to strike in so they could take a nap. But they were both so happy they couldn’t actually sleep, so they were just enjoying being in each other’s arms.

“Nick?” Jeff asked softly after a few long minutes of silence.

“Yes, Jeff?” Nick glanced up at him.

“I know we still haven’t been in a formal date but… Winning today made me realise that I really, really like you. I mean, when the results were there the only thing I wanted to do was hug you and kiss you and share my happiness with you.” Jeff said looking at Nick’s face but ignoring Nick’s slightly confused eyes. “What I mean is… I think you’re an amazing person and I couldn’t help but fall for you... Would you want to be my boyfriend?” Jeff asked hopeful.

“What?!” A wide smile grew on Nick’s face. “Yes! Of course! I do!” Nick said turning a little in Jeff’s arms to kiss him passionately.

Jeff kissed back bringing Nick closer by the back of his head and tangling his fingers in his hair.

Nick never felt so happy, he had won the Olympic games – to which he and Jeff had worked hard the past few years for – and he was with the man he loved, the one he was over heels for almost two years now. His future was looking pretty bright and he liked it.

Nick had to admit, those were the best Olympic games of his life.


	2. The Diver

Jeff threw himself onto the couch. He had just arrived to the Olympic village and was exhausted from the long plane trip.

“And now? What should I do?” He mumbled to himself. The trainings in the Olympic stadium would only start in two days and the first games would start in five days or so.

You see, Jeff was in the USA athletic Olympic team, he was one of the 200 metres runners, it was his first year in the Olympic games and he hoped it wasn’t the last too. He was still very young so if everything worked alright he still had at least two Olympics ahead, and then he could always try to train to run for longer distances.

Jeff decided to watch some TV. He ran through the foreign channels and found nothing interesting to watch. Not even in BBC. No Sherlock nor Doctor Who. He ended up choosing between the sport channels what sports he wanted to watch of the Olympics.

Table tennis, diving, gymnastics or rowing. Jeff went for diving.

As he changed the channel the first thing that appeared was a man in his early twenties like himself taking a shower before or after his dive, probably after because the bar with the scores was on the screen too. His name was something that started with a ‘N’ - maybe he was Neville, he had a face of someone who could be named Neville – and his surname was Duval, he was also American, like Jeff.

But Jeff wasn’t paying attention to that, no, he was more focused on how pornographic the image in front of him looked. The bar with the scores was placed in the right spot where Duval’s speedos were so it looked like he was naked and the way he was running his hands through his skin made Jeff uncomfortable.

“Hello hottie!” He mumbled to himself and straighten a little on his seat.

Duval looked at his score through the screen and smiled, Jeff was positively sure his heart skipped a heartbeat, his smile was so bright and genuine.

Jeff continued to watch the TV attentively, and when Duval stopped appearing to give place to another team Jeff whined loudly. “No! They aren’t even cute!” He tried to excuse his reaction blaming the new team’s looks.

Jeff continued to watch the dives waiting patiently for the USA team to appear again.

As the Duval and his teammate appeared the dives were cut off to show the archery.

“What? No!” Jeff whined. “Come on! They can’t do this! It was the best part!” He continued to whine spreading across the armchair dramatically.

He reached for the remote and tried to find a channel with the dives. No luck.

“This is bullshit.” He mumbled annoyed. “Why would they change halfway the dives?!”

Jeff turned the TV off and got up.

He had absolutely nothing to do, he paced around groaning eventually as he got too bored. Maybe he could go for a walk.

Jeff sighed and grabbed his jacket, walking around alone with nothing to do was better than being stuck in his room anyway.

He walked around the village, there wasn’t much to see and explore, but still Jeff walked for at least a couple of hours before deciding to come back to his room. The games and the work hadn’t even started but Jeff didn’t like it already. Maybe when the games started, for him, he would like it better since he had things to do, he’d be running the thing he liked the most to do in the entire world.

He was on the hallway to his room when he looked up and a few doors before his own he saw a dark haired man and he could almost swear he knew that smile.

Jeff bit his lip in deep thought as he continued to walk hands in his pockets. _The diver!_ A voice shouted inside his head.

That was an interesting turning of events! Jeff thought about going to talk with him but what could he say? _Oh, I just saw you in TV! You look_ so _hot in speedos!_ That wouldn’t be a smart thing to say. And he already was inside his room anyway.

Jeff sighed as he stepped inside his own room. He walked to the armchair and sat down, turning the TV on. They were repeating some of the sports of the day, and when the dives came up an idea popped in Jeff’s mind.

He reached for his cell phone that was in his pocket and turned the sound of the television down as he dialled his coach’s number.“Hey coach!” Jeff greeted as someone picked up.

“Hello Jeff. Is everything alright?” He asked a little concerned. Jeff never called.

“Oh, yes, don’t worry. I was just thinking… Tomorrow I’ll have a free day, right?” Jeff asked fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

“Yes. Why?” Jeff could almost see him raising an eyebrow.

“You know, I’ll be here all day by myself, so I wondered if… You could get me in the Aquatic Olympic Centre so I could watch some games?” Jeff asked crossing his fingers for a yes.

“Uh- Yes, sure! Pass by my room tomorrow morning and I’ll give the ticket to you.”

“Great!” Jeff jumped a little in his seat. “Bye!” He said happily and hang up.

In Jeff’s defence he _wasn’t_ going there _just_ for Duval! No, Jeff wasn’t a creepy stalker. He liked to watch the swimming races and the dives in general, and it would be much better than being closed in his room the whole day!

Jeff went to bed early after having dinner with some other USA athletes, most of them had been great opponents in some competitions back home, but now they were more of a weird team than other thing, they all wanted to bring a medal home and give some pride to their country.

Jeff couldn’t sleep much that night, the bed was weird, he wasn’t used to it, so he only got a few hours of sleep.

He woke up early in the morning, he got up lazily and dressed up slowly, his eyelids still heavy, and yawning several times on his way.

He stumbled out his room and walked towards his coach’s room. “Morning!” Someone told him, but he was still half asleep, so he didn’t look properly at the person.

“Morning,” He mumbled.

“You okay?” The other asked.

“ ‘M great, I just need a coffee.” Jeff mumbled before turning the corner.

As he arrived to the right door he knocked a few times and waited. His coach appeared at the door still in pyjamas. “Here,” He mumbled sleepily as he gave the ticket to Jeff.

“Thanks man,” Jeff thanked and walked away.

Before going to the Aquatic Centre Jeff passed by one of the coffee shops of the Olympic village to drink a strong black coffee. It didn’t take long until he was fully awake.

Jeff arrived to the Aquatic Centre with a new energy.

His place was a good one, he had pretty nice view to both of the pools.

Some races had already started, and Jeff entertained himself watching them waiting for the dives to start.

Jeff was getting impatient as the dives wouldn’t start, and when they did Jeff almost shouted ‘hallelujah!’.

It was all pretty amazing to watch. They had confidence in what they were doing, and it was amazing how synchronised the pairs were.

But Jeff couldn’t deny, the pair that left him more in awe was Nick – or so he had heard from a few guys that were behind him – and his teammate. They were so relaxed doing those complex and hard jumps landing perfectly on the water. Jeff also noticed Nick would smile and laugh after the jumps, he looked happy doing that and so cute, then he would slap himself mentally for being such a creep.

The day passed in a flash, before he knew the sun was setting and his stomach growling in hunger. He hadn’t eaten anything the whole day!

Jeff waited for the dives to end – even if the USA team was done for the day – before getting up and following part of the crowd outside. He lingered at the door as his coach called to set up the timetable for the following day. Jeff said yes at everything but he wasn’t listening, the only thing he caught was that he had to be at seven a.m. in the stadium.

Then he started walking back to the village, he had to eat and go sleep, he needed a long nice night of sleep.

When he turned to his hallway he saw two people ahead him, he didn’t pay much attention to who they were until something fell from the bag from the dark haired one. “Hey!” He called out leaning down to pick up whatever that was. “You lost your... Speedos?” He chuckled as he realised.

The dark haired man looked behind and turned red. “Oh sorry,” He mumbled. It was Nick.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Jeff returned the speedos to the owner. “You were both awesome today!” He smiled.

“Thanks,” Nick’s teammate, whose name Jeff hadn’t bothered to learn, spoke.

“Wait,” Nick looked better at Jeff and grin grew on his face. “You’re the morning guy!” He said pointing at Jeff.

“I’m sorry, what?” Jeff raised an eyebrow.

“You know, this morning I passed by you and you were all zombie mode on and I asked if you were okay and you mumbled something and yeah, I’m gonna shut up now.” Nick said as Jeff started laughing.

“Oh, yeah, right, sorry. I didn’t sleep much last night.” Jeff rolled his eyes.

“It’s okay, you looked awful though.” Nick mocked.

Jeff gasped. “Thanks mate. Nice of you.”

“Oh sorry! I didn’t mean it like that.”

Jeff raised an eyebrow again. “Then you meant it like what?” He asked.

It was easy to talk with Nick, he was a nice funny guy.

The two men were so distracted in their conversation they didn’t even noticed the Nick’s teammate walking away shaking his head.

“Whatever, don’t worry, you look awesome now.” Nick smirked.

“Thanks, I try.” Jeff grinned flipping his hair.

Nick laughed. “But wait if you’re an athlete, how did you see me today? Shouldn’t you be working?” Nick asked raising an eyebrow.

“I’m a 200 metres runner, my practices to get used to the stadium start tomorrow.” Jeff explained. “So instead of being locked up the whole day I decided to go watch some games.” He shrugged.

“Any specific reason you chose the Aquatic Centre?” Nick asked curiously.

“I think it’s pretty amazing what you do.” Jeff said smiling.

“Thanks,” Nick smiled back. “So, you’re American too?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, I am.” Jeff nodded.

“Nice, so I guess I’ll see you later at dinner, probably.” Nick winked and stepped back to go inside his room.

“Yeah, see you later!” Jeff waved still smiling. Heck yeah, he was going to look for Nick at dinner. The USA athletes had all the same Chef anyway.

Jeff went to his room to just take a quick shower before leaving again for dinner.

As he arrived to the place where a lot of American athletes were already having dinner, Jeff saw a hand shooting up in the air and waving at him, he didn’t need to look twice to know who it was, he smiled and walked to the table where Nick and his teammate were.

“Oh well,” Nick’s teammate yawned as Jeff arrived to the table. “I’m tired goodnight.” He smiled politely at Jeff and waved as he walked away.

“Um... Did I do something wrong?” Jeff asked as he sat.

“No, ignore him. He can be truly stupid sometimes.”Nick rolled his eyes.

“Does that mean I did indeed something wrong?” Jeff asked.

“No, it means he’s stupid and said he didn’t want to be the third wheel.” Nick shrugged sipping his water and not looking at Jeff.

“Oh,” Jeff was caught off guard at that. “And why would he say that?” Jeff asked casually.

“I don’t know, Eric can be very... Odd, sometimes.” Nick looked up at Jeff, at least he didn’t look bothered with that. But maybe he didn’t realise Nick was gay, yet.

“Well, I hope the odds are in his favour.” Jeff mocked.

“You like _The Hunger Games_? Cool!” Nick said excitedly.

“Yup, and I am not ashamed to say that I cried like a little baby when Rue died.” He nodded solemnly.

Nick laughed. “Don’t worry, me too.”

The conversation went on and on, they ate really slowly as they wouldn’t stop talking and laughing. It was just too easy to be around each other, they were different yet so alike, and after that dinner Jeff couldn’t help but feel attracted to Nick.

The most amazingly weird thing was that with only a couple of hours of chatting they behaved like they were best friends already, like they had known each other forever. Jeff liked it.

They walked together back to their rooms, since their room were in the same hallway. “So, tomorrow you start your practices?” Nick asked just to be sure.

“Yeah, but we can always see each other at breakfast and dinner... I mean, if you aren’t tired of me already.” Jeff joked.

“Hell no! You’re too nice to be around.” Nick smiled widely.

“That’s cool. I’m sorry Nick but there’s something I really have to say.” Jeff said a grin growing on his face telling Nick nothing good was coming up.

“What?” He asked raising an eyebrow and smirking.

“You are so tiny!” Jeff said placing his hands on Nick’s shoulders, from behind, and leaning down to rest his head on his hand and looking at Nick with a smile.

Nick mocked gasped. “I’m not tiny!”

“Yes you are, and it’s adorable!” Jeff chuckled.

“I’m not!” Nick glanced down at Jeff, but didn’t turn his face, if he did their lips would probably meet. Not that was a bad thing but- _No, Nick, stop._ Nick demanded himself. “You are just abnormally tall.” He turned his head just a little to Jeff and poked his tongue out at him.

“Watch out for your tongue you don’t want it to fall off,” Jeff mocked.

“Shut up,”

“Nope.”

“Ass.”

“You love me.”

Nick huffed. “I still stand by what I said. You’re just too tall.” He mumbled.

“Awn, little Nicky, don’t be upset!”

“Shush it, Jeffrey.” Nick grinned using Jeff’s full name on purpose. Jeff had told him in the beginning of the night he didn’t like it.

Jeff gasped and straightened up. “That’s it, I don’t know you anymore.” Jeff said and walked past Nick to his room.

Nick laughed and followed Jeff blocking the Jeff’s room’s door with his foot as Jeff was about to close it. “You’re a meanie.” Jeff pouted.

“Awn, I’m sorry.” Nick said giving Jeff a trying smile.

“Fine,” Jeff rolled his eyes playfully and a wide smile grew across his face. “Wanna come on in for a while?” He asked moving a little to the side.

Nick glanced at his watch, it wasn’t too late but it wasn’t early, maybe he could come in for just a few minutes, that wouldn’t hurt, right? “Yeah, sure!” He smiled and stepped inside. The room looked a lot like his own, except for Jeff’s personal items.

Jeff pointed for the couch and Nick walked to it to sit. They talked a bit more and then when Nick still didn’t feel like going, they turned the TV on.

Nick ended up falling asleep on the couch. Jeff smiled at him and lifted him up taking him to him own bed and laying him down.

For Jeff’s surprise the couch was way comfier than the bed, or better saying, it was much similar with his bed back home. Jeff could be really picky about the bed where he slept.

Next thing he knew his alarm was going off in the morning. “Shit!” He heard Nick shout.

Jeff sat up running a hand through his hair. “Hey,” He said sleepily.

Nick was already jumping off his bed. “Damn, I’m late. Eric is going to kill me. Fuck.” Nick said going to the living room to pick up his shoes.

“Nick calm down, you’re not.” Jeff mumbled still half asleep, mornings were never nice to him.

“Yes, I am! It’s ten in the morning! My dives start at eleven!” Nick said desperately.

“The clock is with the wrong hour!” Jeff said. “It’s six in the morning now! I’m a retarded and I set the clock to the wrong time zone!” Jeff said.

Nick blinked and looked at his watch. “Oh,”

“Jeez, Nick...” Jeff slid his legs off the bed. “You’re kind of a stressed guy.” He grumbled.

“Sorry,” Nick let himself fall on the couch with a sigh. “But wait, what the hell am I doing here?” He asked.

“You fell asleep, I took you to my bed to not wake you up.” Jeff explained. “I need a coffee.” He muttered.

“Oh, thanks.” Nick yawned.

“It’s okay,” Jeff yawned too. “Now you’ll be my pillow.” He said and leaned against Nick.

Nick chuckled. “Okay, but shouldn’t you be getting up now?” He asked pushing a lock of blond hair out of Jeff’s sight.

Jeff hummed. “I should, but I’m too lazy and you are comfy.” He smiled.

“Come on, you don’t want to get late fot your first day…”

“I actually do.” Jeff buried his face on Nick’s shoulder.

“Will I have to carry you there?” Nick mocked.

“Yes, that would be very nice.” Jeff mumbled.

“Come on Jeff, get up…” Nick ran his hand through Jeff’s hair.

“Fine.” Jeff sighed and straightened up.

As soon as Jeff was out of the room, dressed up and with a coffee cup in his hand, he was feeling better already.

The day was nice, Jeff was doing what he loved after all. But to be honest he’d rather spend the day with Nick. He would see him at dinner, but for some reason it didn’t seem enough.

The few days Jeff had until his games started passed in a flash, the best part of the days was by far, dinner time when he get to be with Nick. Jeff had only known Nick for those few days, but he couldn’t deny the big crush he already had on him. Eric was never around though, Nick would either tell him to go away, or he would walk away with the third wheel excuse, to which Nick would roll his eyes.

Nick was getting more nervous by the day. His final were coming up and Jeff wished he could be there to support him, but he couldn’t, his own races would start the next day!

Jeff was walking back to their rooms with Nick. “Calm down Nick, you’re going to be great I know it.” Jeff smiled and put his arm over Nick’s shoulders.

“I’m not _that_ nervous,” Nick lied.

“Yes, you are. But seriously, you’ll see you and Eric will get to the podium!” Jeff assured him.

Nick nodded and then chuckled nervously. “If I’m like this now, I can only imagine when I’m at the final of the individual dives...” He mumbled.

“Those finals will be at the same day as mine, won’t they?” Jeff wondered out loud.

“Yeah.”

“Look, Nick, you’ll be great, I swear. You just have to relax!”

Nick nodded, but he still looked nervous as he opened his room’s door. The way he was he wasn’t going to sleep probably.

“Okay come here,” Jeff said reaching for Nick hand and leading him to his own room.

“Jeff?!” Nick asked a little alarmed. “What are you doing?”

Jeff didn’t answer, he pulled Nick to his room. “You’re sleeping here tonight.” He said. “Don’t worry, nothing will happen.” He rolled his eyes as Nick opened his mouth to speak.

Nick closed his mouth and followed Jeff inside. They had never touched the sexuality subject, but with Jeff saying that, did he know Nick was gay?

Jeff closed the door behind them. “Set up the alarm to your hour and go lay down...” He said softly before walking to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he came back to his room, taking his t-shirt off on his way, he found Nick, fully clothed on the bed. “You’re going to sleep like that? Come on Nick I’ve seen you in less clothes.” Jeff rolled his eyes and taking his jeans off.

Nick sighed and sat up taking his shirt off and then his pants. Jeff made his best not to stare at his perfect body, he walked to the drawer and took out a large t-shirt. “Want one?” He asked Nick.

“If you don’t mind...” Nick said.

It was weird to be there, why did Nick let himself follow Jeff? Oh right, because he had a major crush on him. Nick couldn’t help but stare a bit at Jeff. He was so _damn_ hot! And in his defence it was the first time he saw him, like _that._ Nick quickly put on the t-shirt and then Jeff started walking to the bed. Why was he walking to the bed? Why was he still walking? Well, it was his bed, but still...

“Move to the side a little.” Jeff said softly turning the lights off. Nick nodded and moved to the side.

Jeff laid down beside Nick and wrapped his arms around Nick pulling him closer. “Now, try to relax and sleep,” He said softly.

It worked. At first Nick was terribly tensed but then, Jeff’s body warmth and the fact he felt so safe in his arms made him relax completely and soon he was asleep.

Jeff smiled as he felt Nick’s deep breaths, he kissed his cheek and allowed himself to fall asleep too.

They both feel into such deep sleeps they only thing that dragged them out was the alarm ringing for two minutes or more. Jeff groaned and turned a little to turn it off, returning quickly to Nick.

“Morning.” Nick mumbled.

“Morning. Did you sleep well?” Jeff mumbled sleepily.

“Yeah... I slept very well...” He muttered snuggling close to Jeff. It felt so good.

“Good... You have to get up though.” Jeff said, and he had too.

“I don’t want to...” Nick whined.

Jeff couldn’t help but let a smile creep through his lips. “You have your final.”

“Another reason to stay.” Nick mumbled.

“What if I promise you I’ll cuddle you tonight as well?” Jeff asked a bit shyly.

Nick sighed. “I would get up.”

“Then I will cuddle you tonight as well if you get up.” Jeff said with a huge smile on his face. Nick wanted to stay with him, and that made him warm inside.

Nick nodded and sat up slowly.

They dressed up slowly not talking much, as Jeff still needed his morning coffee and Nick was getting psychologically prepared for what was going to happen.

“Come on, cheer up a little, it’s going to be fine!” Jeff said giving a last hug to Nick before they separate.

Nick nodded. “Okay, I’ll-I’ll see you later.” He said nervously.

Jeff sighed, he couldn’t do anything else to calm Nick down, he had done everything he could have.

Jeff patted Nick’s shoulder before rushing through the hallway towards the opposite direction Nick would go. He still had to get some coffee and he had to run if he wanted to be in time.

The day wasn’t a very busy one for Jeff, he had to only run once and then runners from other categories occupied the tracks. But still his coach didn’t let Jeff go, so Jeff made him turn on the radio so he could listen to Nick’s finals.

Later that day when he was returning to his room to just take a quick shower before dinner he saw Nick at the end of the hallway. “Nick!” He called out.

Nick turned to him smiling widely, Jeff ran to him and hugged him tight. “Congratulations!” He said and leaned back. “Let me see it!” He said excitedly.

Nick raised his silver medal proudly. “Well, we could have been better but-“

“Oh shut up!” Jeff interrupted rolling his eyes fondly. “The guys from the radio were completely blown by you two!”

“Thanks!” Eric’s voice came behind Nick.

Jeff looked up. “Oh, hi Eric, I didn’t see you there.” Jeff smiled a little at him.

“Not surprised.” Eric rolled his eyes with a grin.

“I’m sorry for him.” Nick sighed tiredly.

Eric chuckled and stepped closer to them. “So what did you do so Nick would that relaxed?” He asked but didn’t give time for Jeff to answer. “Oh wait don’t tell, I don’t want to know about Nick’s sexu-“

“Okay! That’s enough!” Nick cut him off. “You go away, come on go!” Nick pushed him to their room’s door. “Damn, you’re worse than my brother.” He grumbled.

Jeff raised an eyebrow but then he couldn’t help but to laugh. “Eric is a subtle guy...” He said as Nick was near him again.

“I am so _so_ sorry for him.” He said his cheeks the same colour as a tomato. “Eric can really step out of the line sometimes.” Nick rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s okay... But... Does-does he think we’re... Sort of... Together?” Jeff frowned a little.

“Uh... I actually have no idea. But I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable,” Nick bit his lip. “He’s just an ass.”

“No!” Jeff answered perhaps too quickly. “I mean, it’s okay.”

“Nice.” Nick gave him a small nod.

“Okay, so I’m gonna shower, and I’ll see you in a bit.” Jeff smiled.

Nick nodded. “See ya!”

“No, Nick! You should go with him!” Eric chuckled from the other side of the door.

“Now, I understand you always kept him away when we were together.” Jeff laughed. “See ya champ!” Jeff waved to a very red Nick and walked to his room.

As Jeff closed the door behind him a question shot in his mind. Did that mean Nick is gay? Eric would know right? And if he was saying those things it was because Nick was probably gay, right?

Jeff showered with a smile on his face, if Nick was indeed gay or bisexual, Jeff had a shot with him, didn’t he? He hoped so. Nick was an amazing guy, and Jeff wanted to get to know him even better and he wanted to be with him.

Dinner went on normally, Eric wasn’t there. And when they were coming back Nick was ready to go to his room, but Jeff pulled him by his hand with an eye roll towards his room. “I keep my promises.” He said making Nick smile widely.

That night Jeff slept like a baby, being in Nick’s arms just felt so good. He’d never get enough of it.

More days passed. Nick and Jeff started cuddling every night, they would just sleep so well, there was no reason for them to sleep separate. Besides it was a great excuse to just sleep with each other. Nick ended up bringing his stuff to Jeff’s room, and after a couple of nights they were comfortable enough to sleep shirtless like they were both used to.

The days were tiring. Jeff was getting closer to his finals, he had never expected to actually go so far in the competition. There were a lot of great runners, but truth was that he seemed to be faster than anyone else. And whenever he thought of Nick he could get the energy to run even more.

When Jeff found himself it was the day of his final. He couldn’t help but be extremely nervous. Now he could actually understand how Nick was feeling those days back, and how he was feeling now, since he had also gotten to the finals of the individual dives.

Jeff was warming up for the final race, taking large deep breaths to calm himself down. “Has he picked up?” He asked for what felt like the millionth time.

“No, Jeff, but if Nick’s finals are now like you say his coach won’t let you talk with him!” His coach repeated himself. “Just calm down, son, you’ll be alright.”

Jeff sighed exasperated and then a camera passed by him and he had to give a smile to it and wave, like nothing was on with him.

The runners were called to their place. Jeff took another deep breath before walking to his place. He was in the track closest to the field, which was his favourite, so at least that. He like it because when he had to make the turn he would get closer to the others and that always gave him some confidence even if inside he knew they were all running the same distance.

Jeff positioned himself and waited for the sign. It was instinctive. When the sign rang Jeff’s legs were already moving.

He couldn’t feel them, but he knew he was running. The same instant he felt like he was going to slow down a voice inside him reminded him of Nick and before Jeff knew he was running faster, passing by the others and crossing the end’s line in first.

It took him a second to realise he had actually been the fastest one. Only when he heard the cheers from the crowd and his coach as happy as Jeff ever saw him, he gasped and jumped. “Yes!”

He ran to his coach to get the flag and gave a turn to the stadium with the second and third place athletes. He couldn’t believe this! He had just wan the Olympics! Was this a dream? No, his legs hurt too much and he felt too tired for it to be a dream.

When he arrived to the spot he had left in the first place he jumped to his coach to tackle him. “We did it!” He shouted happily.

“Correction. You did it, Jeff!” He answered with the widest smile.

Jeff only rolled his eyes. And then something clicked in his mind. “You were with your radio on, weren’t you?” He asked.

“The kid doesn’t know yet.” The coach answered.

Jeff nodded and soon was time to deliver the medals.

Jeff’s eyes filled with tears as he heard the anthem of his country. He tried to sing along but he was too emotional so he just shut and enjoyed the moment.

What followed were the interviews, Jeff hated that part, but he had to so he made an effort to smile and be nice.

Only when Jeff got out of there he had news from what was happening in the Aquatic Centre. And apparently Nick was in such euphoric state as Jeff was feeling inside because he had also won. That was perfect! They had both win! Jeff could explode with happiness right now.

Nick and Jeff met at the door of their building, there was no one around to be seen, except a very well hidden Eric. So they ran into each other’s arms congratulating each other for their wins.

“I did it for you!” Nick admitted. “My coach heard on the radio you had won and I just wanted to win for you!”

Jeff smiled widely at him and hugged him close again. “Well I won because of you!” Jeff replied. “I felt like I was going to get behind so I thought of you and it gave me strength to run faster!” Jeff said before leaning away from the hug to look at Nick’s eyes. “Nick, I love you.” He confessed.

Nick gasped, opened his mouth in awe for a second and widened his eyes – that was unexpected – before closing it and leaning closer to give Jeff a deep passionate kiss. “I love you too,” He mumbled against Jeff’s lips.

Jeff felt butterflies exploding in his stomach, it felt so much better than he had ever thought. Jeff was mesmerized with the few time it took him to fall completely in love with Nick. But it was true, he did love him!

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Nick asked as they broke apart.

It was impossible for Jeff to smile wider. “Do you really think you needed to ask?” He simply replied making Nick chuckle. They kissed again.

Only a few metres from them was Eric who was now cheering to himself and mumbling. “I just knew it!”

The two things Jeff was certain of at the end of that day were that he would be extremely happy with Nick and that he would never forget those Olympic games.


End file.
